You Are Truly A Work of Art!

“You’re a piece of work!” comes to mind this morning. I’ve heard it on TV. I’ve heard fathers say it their kids. I’m pretty sure Archie Bunker said it to Edith at least once. Exasperated people use phrases such as this to vent their frustrations. I cringe as I remembered my own occasional irritability when mine were young. I didn’t talk to them that way, but there were times I would get tired of the chaos, clutter and cacophony of daily life at home with three young children.  We spent a lot of time outdoors, working in the yard, picking up sticks (I offered a penny a stick as reward!) and riding bicycles, chasing puppies, feeding chickens.  The outdoors made for smoother days as my kiddos worked off their enormous energy stores.

Perhaps you grew up in a home with an unfulfilled mother or an annoyed father or both.  Their anger and bitterness with themselves might have accidentally poured out on you.  Their words linger in the air, long after you are grown, still feeling the hurt and pain. Just as I remember hearing the phrase from long ago, you too may be recalling unintentional or intentional hurts from yesteryear.  Maybe you are the frustrated one and you are having issues as you try to live a life worth living.

Listen to the Lord’s love song to you this morning as He speaks affection into your life. God never gets frustrated with you, ever! He never throws up His hands and says, “done”. He never says you’re hopeless and He will never walk away.  He is the One Who will come and scoop you up when you’ve fallen. He kisses the hurts away with His tender words of care. 

Oh beloved!  You are not a piece of work to Him ever, but rather you are truly a work of art in His sight! You may have looked like a blank canvas when you were born but He is the painter and He gently guided the Colors of Love, Hope, Peace and Comfort onto your canvas as He created you to dwell in beauty and joy! Not only did He create you, He is continuing the canvas of your life!  He will continue His Artwork until you are home and even then you will continue to be a beautiful masterpiece in His Mansion, which is your heavenly home!

Rejoice as you learn to let Him sing love into your life and speak hope into your heart, because He loves you and He’s for you and that makes you priceless!

Ephesians 2:10  For we are God’s masterpiece…

Isaiah 29:16 How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and He is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the One who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The Potter who made me is stupid”?

Isaiah 43:7 Bring all who claim Me as their God, for I have made them for My glory. It was I who created them.

Job 10:10 You guided my conception and formed me in the womb.

Psalm 139:14 Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Your Life is a Canvas and God is the Painter!

One of the photos our youngest daughter took of me and her three children at our front window had really good lighting effects. It was so good that one of my friends referred to it as a Vermeer. She’s an art major, so she knows these things. I had to look up Vermeer and found that his art had lots of shadows and sunlight beaming through in ways that highlighted the scene. Vermeer, like other famous artists, created many masterpieces. With brush and paint and a blank canvas, these artists would create something extraordinary. The entire scene wouldn’t show up with one touch, but as artist put brush to paint to canvas, slowly the magnificence would appear. Each canvas started out the same, blank and devoid. But at the touch of the master’s hand every one became unique and special in its own right.


Oh beloved, you are a masterpiece! Your canvas is being painted by the Grand Master Himself. Each touch of the brush, held lovingly in His hand is going to make you magnificent! Don’t struggle at the touch, but rather revel in His creation – you! There’s not another like you in all the world. You are special. You are unique. You are priceless. Run to the Master this morning and let Him put you in the best light. He so lovingly touches your life and so amazingly blesses your days. Thank Him and let Him continue what He started – you are a one of a kind!


Ephesians 2:10 NLT For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.


Jeremiah 10:23 I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.



2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

We Are A Masterpiece in His Hands!

I fondly remember my Aunt Ruth making biscuits when I was young. She was a pro at it. The simple recipe of buttermilk, self-rising flour and a pinch of soda, was like pure heaven in her hands. She would mix it and then turn it out on a floured board where she folded and folded and folded, careful not to over-knead it for that would make the dough tough and the biscuits hard. Once the dough was ready she had a remarkable knack of holding up one end of the entire thing and pinching off a perfectly round segment. It all appeared completely effortless as she pinched a biscuit and turned it over once in the iron skillet heated on the stove just so, with enough oil as her fingertips would slide one side of the biscuit into the skillet and turn it over just so. Into the hot stove, heated to 450 degrees they’d go. After the fire they’d come out beautifully burnished and absolutely the most flavorful rounds of delight.


Each step was absolutely important, each ingredient was essential. Without the addition of buttermilk to the flour, the rise wouldn’t be right. Without the iron skillet the crust and color wouldn’t be right. Without the extreme heat, the biscuits wouldn’t be so delicate and steamy inside.

We are like pieces of dough held in the Master’s hand. He carefully and lovingly caresses our lives just so. Each episode of our life is essential to the making of His masterpiece. Without the kneading, the pinching, the placing and the heat, our lives would lie flat and useless. But in His Hands, with His perfect touch, we come out perfect, useful in His kingdom, fit for Heaven.


Oh beloved. This morning, as you think about your life, laying the ingredients of the past, the present and the future out to measure, remember that God loves you more than you will ever comprehend, He cares for you more than you can see right now and His plans for you are that you turn out beautiful! One part of the recipe of life, taken by itself, can be disaster, but sifted together and put into His Hands your life is truly a stunning success.

Run to Him this morning and thank Him for His perfect work in your life. Thank Him that while He’s still working on you, it means you’re still useable for the Kingdom. Thank Him for His perfection in working with you. The Master loves you, He’s for you and that’s all that really matters.


1 Chronicles 21:13 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for His mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”


Isaiah 64:8 And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.


Psalm 66:9 Our lives are in His hands, and He keeps our feet from stumbling.



Deuteronomy 33:3 Indeed, He loves His people; all His holy ones are in His hands. They follow in His steps and accept His teaching.